Real Estate

Commercial Real Estate

Tips for choosing the best location

Depending on your type of business, choosing a location can be one of the most important decisions you make. Of course, if you’re an Internet company or a service provider, most of the time your location doesn’t matter – you could be working out of your basement in the suburbs as long as you provide good service. On the other hand, if you need to be visible to customers and might rely on drive-by traffic to increase your business, or if you need to be close to where your resources or suppliers are, location becomes the make or break of your success!

When location is vital, you have to take your time choosing the right commercial real estate. Whether you’re going to lease or buy, you need to compare your options, consider your needs and refuse to budge on your must-haves.

The Best Advice

Here are some important things to keep in mind when location is an important part of your business plan:

  • What is the area used for? There’s absolutely no point in parking your retail store in the middle of restaurant alley – people frequent the area to eat, not to shop. Many businesses tend to group together because the customer traffic is practically guaranteed. However, you can find success in a mixed-use area, such as a mall, where people go to shop, eat and just hang out. Do some market research to find out how people come across your kind of business.
  • Where can you find your key demographic? Pay attention to neighborhood traffic and areas where your kind of customer frequents. Putting yourself close to the action is a great way to get people to wander in the door, even if they weren’t headed out to come specifically to you.
  • Where are your competitors? It’s a fine line – you want to be in an area that your customers would be naturally frequenting, but you don’t want to be lost in a sea of competition, where chances are your customers will pick the one closest to them. You need to be close to the action, but still be distinctive.
  • What kind of visibility do you have? If people have to work to find you, chances are they’ll go somewhere else. Don’t get hidden in a back corner! Make sure you can prominently display your business sign, and that if you have to give directions to a customer they can be straightforward and easy.